Saturday, March 01, 2008

But wait, there's more

I don't have Zelda's mad Google skills, so I'm not so swift with gathering information. Interestingly, though, Googling john mccain monsanto yields plenty of articles about -- guess what? -- Hillary Clinton and Monsanto. Like this one.

And this one, which is not about Monsanto's Washington ties, but is interesting to me nonetheless.

This article demonstrates some of the problems with Monsanto's tactics. A field of genetically modified corn is next to a field of regular corn. Cross-pollination occurs naturally. Now the regular corn contains genetically modified material. Monsanto says the farmer is not entitled to replant seed from this corn. Now, whether or not this farmer is required to pay damages to Monsanto, he is unable to follow his normal farming practices. Why is the farmer responsible for this seed drift? Why isn't Monsanto responsible for keeping their genes to themselves? And if consumers prefer not to buy genetically modified corn, then this farmer's crop is now reduced in value. How is this not Monsanto's fault? Although how this article relates to John McCain, I could not say.

This article on Monsanto's herbicide Roundup and family farming is also interesting. If you read the article on corn linked above, you know that genetic material can move from one crop field to another. To me, this increases the feasibility of the idea that the Roundup-resistant gene can move from corn to weeds. This, of course, being apart from the fact that weeds can develop Roundup resistance on their own. These are the kinds of unintended consequences that studies are usually unable to pinpoint, and the reason that I do not buy the argument that genetically modified crops have been scientifically tested and found not to be harmful. Again, no relation to John McCain, although I am still browsing through the results of that search.

2 Comments:

Well, you and agree that Monsanto's hold on, well, everything, is troubling. I take issue with Hillary Clinton becoming the poster child for an issue that tarnishes every serious contender in this campaign. She shouldn't be held to a different standard than everyone else nor should she be held up as example while Obama and others keep their noses relatively clean. I'm not talking about this blog either...just the current trend in the media.